Gate City Striders

27 GCS-Triad Racing Team members descended upon the town of Dover, NH this Sunday for the 29th annual Reds Shoe Barn 5m. The weather was near picture perfect as those that ran enjoyed temperatures in the mid-50’s with just a bit wind and an abundance of sunshine! This race served as the second event to the 2010 New Hampshire Grand Prix Series. And, even with it being the furthest of the 7 NHGP races away from Nashua, our team still had an incredible turnout!

Overall Race Winners - Karen Long & Jim Johnson

Rich Smith was again our fastest male runner. His time of 27:28 (5:30 pace) was good enough for 1st in his 40-45 age group and first on the Mens Masters Team ahead of Denis Tranchemontagne (30:13) 3rd in his 40-45 age group & Michael Wade (31:39). Isaac St. Martin was the next fastest GCS-Triad runner after Rich finishing in a time of 30:02 which gave him 3rd in his 30-34 age group and first place on the Mens Open Team.

Mike Ward & Jim Hansen

Mike Ward triumphantly returned to the racing scene (in a new division) by finishing 3rd in his 50-54 age group and first and on the Mens Seniors Team with a time of 32:26 outpacing Jim Hansen (33:39) 4th in his 50-54 age group & Tom Kolb (34:04). And, Denny Leblanc led the way for the Mens Veterans Team with a time of 38:17 which was good enough for 3rd in his 65-69 age group and first on the team just ahead of Dave Salvas (39:14) 3rd in his 60-64 age group & Bob Ludwig (39:59) 4th in his 65-69 age group.

Karen Long, Emily Strong, Suzanne Barker, Tammy Gaffey, Richie Blake, Julie Hanover, Bob Ludwig & Denny Leblanc

On the womens side, Karen Long continued on her comeback trail as she lead the way with a finishing time of 32:45 which was not only good enough for 1st in her 40-44 age group and first on the Womens Masters Team, but she was also the first female runner overall! Just behind Karen was Tammy Gaffey (34:20) 2nd in her 40-44 age group & Julie Hanover (37:09) 4th in her 40-44 age group. For the Open Women, Sarah St. Martin set the standard with a 36:05 finish which gave her 3rd in her 30-34 age group and first place on the Womens Open Team. Hot on Sarah’s heels was Haley Heinrich who’s 38:31 was good enough for 2nd in her 15-19 age group and first on the Womens Youth Team.

Bob & Denny (again) with Jane Levesque, Jennifer Vincent & Jen Mack

Pam Hall led the way on the Womens Senior Team with a time of 38:58 which was good enough for 1st in her 55-59 age group and placed her just ahead of Andrea Pierce (39:18) 5th in her 50-54 age group & Robin Rocha (42:07) 5th in her 55-59 age group. And, Emily Strong finished that way with a 44:46 which was good enough for 2nd in her 60-64 age group as well earning her an asterisk for finishing under USATF age-group guidelines for the 5 mile distance. Right behind Emily on the Womens Veterans Team was Jane Levesque who finished in 47:48 which gave her a USATF asterisk as well to go along with her 2nd place finish in her 65-69 age group

The whole gang - or at least those that hung around for a picture.

As a team we finished with 137 points on the day which was 21 points ahead of Greater Derry (116) and 55 points ahead of Rochester (82). And, after two NHGP races, we hold a slim 65 point lead on GDTC for first place in the overall 2010 Race Series. GCS-Triad Racing Team Individual Results for the Red’s Shoe Barn 5m can be found on the club website here. Full Race Results can be found on the Coolrunning website here.

Believe it or not, our next team race is this coming weekend at the Foothealth 5k on May 1st in Derry, NH. Since this is their home course (and they are hosting it) GDTC will be ready for us at this one for sure.  So, we’ll need to arrive with a full compliment of runners for this “Foothealth Showdown” if we’re going to defend our 2009 NHGP title. More info on the race (including race registration) can be found here.

Also, attached below is an application for this race. The pre-race day registration fee is $22 mailed no later than April 26. The race day registration fee is $25, from 7:30-8:45 a.m., at the Gallien’s Town Beach. This year the race is offering a short sleeve, advertiser free, custom designed heavyweight cotton t-shirts for the first 120 registered runners. There will be plenty of post race food to enjoy including chili and home made soup as well as plenty of healthy and not so healthy treats.

And, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me at: mwade@ganekarchitects.com